Vulcan history
The history of the Vulcans encompasses a long journey from the ancient civil wars that nearly destroyed , to their embracing of logic through the teachings of Surak. Origins According to Vulcan mythology, all creation arose from a "Garden of Eden"-like place known as Sha Ka Ree. ( ) One possibility for the origin of Vulcans came to light in 2268 with the discovery of Sargon and his people. When Sargon explained that his people colonized many worlds in the galaxy half a million years ago, Spock theorized that Vulcan might have been such a colony world. According to Spock, "That would tend to explain certain elements of Vulcan prehistory." ( ) (set before the discovery of Sargon's people in "Return to Tomorrow"), T'Pol clearly states that her people evolved on Vulcan.}} In 2369, evidence was discovered that suggests many of the galaxy's humanoid races were descended from a single humanoid race, the originators of the form, who had seeded many worlds with a DNA code to guide evolution to a humanoid form. Related species, such as the offshoot Romulans, displayed evidence of these DNA sequences which may imply the Vulcans were descended from them as well. ( ) Ancient history was founded in the 9th century BC]] As far as its memory goes, the Vulcan civilization had never been conquered. However, although it went back farther than that of Humans, there were still many gaps in Vulcan prehistory. The Obelisks of ancient Vulcan were lost for many years but were an important archaeological discovery when they were finally excavated. ( ; ) is "8877," while the year in Human standard is 2237. Therefore, it's possible some important event happened on Vulcan in 6640 BC, at which point their year system "started." However, this conjecture is predicated on the unlikely assumption that the Vulcan year is exactly the same length as an Earth year.}} Around 2700 BC, Vulcans were barbaric, war-like and "nearly killing themselves off with their own passions". According to Spock, "Vulcan, like Earth, had its aggressive, colonizing period; savage, even by Earth standards." ( ) Some Vulcans began to mentally train themselves to suppress their emotions by the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, though they continued following a polythiestic religion with rompish celebrations and many deities, including gods of war, death and peace. Although many religious holidays of this time like Rumarie ceased to be observed over the following centuries, some rituals were preserved, for example, the Vulcan wedding ceremony, which remained unchanged from the "time of the beginning." ( ; ; ; ) By the 9th century BC, Vulcans were capable of space travel and Master Haadok and others had founded the P'Jem monastery on another planet. ( ) Time of Awakening :For main article, see Time of Awakening. By the 4th century, Vulcan was tearing itself apart. Their rampant emotions, combined with a hostile warrior culture, led to many wars using terrible weapons like atomic bombs and the Stone of Gol. But out of this emerged a philosopher named Surak, who proposed leading a life governed by logic rather than emotion. His teachings quickly spread and were recorded in the Kir'Shara, finally showing Vulcan a path towards peace. Although his katra was saved, Surak himself later died of radiation sickness on Mount Seleya, which eventually became one of the most revered sites on Vulcan. ( ; ; ) However, one group still opposed allowing logic to govern their lives. "Those who marched beneath the Raptor's wings," as Surak called them, fought a final war with the rest of Vulcan and were eventually forced to leave the planet, becoming the ancestors of the Debrune and the Romulans. ( ; ; ) Return to space By the 19th century, Vulcan had rebuilt its civilization and returned to interstellar travel. ( ) 20th and 21st centuries According to Quark, the Vulcan invention of warp drive occurred some time after 1947. ( ) By 1957, Vulcans had several warp-capable starship classes in use, such as the starship and the survey ship. ( ) After the invention of warp drive, it took Vulcans a hundred years to design an engine capable of breaking the warp 2 barrier. ( ) . See "Little Green Men" - Trivia for more information.}} By the early 20th century, Vulcan had made contact with the Tellarites. Vulcans considered Tellarites argumentative, but "generally reliable" and they were known to pass on Vulcan distress calls to the Vulcan High Command. ( ) Contact with the Andorians also came during the early 20th century. According to the Vulcans, their first contact "seemed promising," "despite their heightened emotions." However, it was soon discovered that "they were duplicitous," wishing to only honor "agreements that didn't conflict with their interests." Soon, a border dispute – dating back to the 1950s and lasting two hundred years – began between the two powers, due to their neighboring home systems and the Vulcans' suspicion towards the territorial and militaristic nature of the Andorians. The Andorians felt that the only thing that kept Vulcan from invading Andoria was "the threat of massive retaliation." ( ) By the mid-20th century, Vulcans were observing Earth and the Human civilization that inhabited it, but never made contact because they were deemed too primitive. ( ; ) The Vulcans were startled, however, by the launch of the first Human-made artificial satellite into orbit, "Sputnik," in 1957. Surprised that Humans were advancing towards spaceflight so quickly, Vulcan survey ships began making routine flybys through the Sol system to keep an eye on how Humans were developing. These Vulcan watchers limited their observations to remote studies from high orbit. ( ) This also meant not intervening during Earth's World War III (even though the Vulcans were aware it was happening), because they felt it was a local problem they shouldn't get entangled in. ( ) In the early 2050s, the Vulcans dispatched a first contact mission to the Arkonians, who had recently achieved warp capability. However, similar to the initial relations with the Andorians, the Vulcan first contact mission was soon recalled as the Arkonians proved to be "suspicious and deceitful". Over the following century, the Arkonian's distrust towards the Vulcans would grow into intense hatred. ( ) In 2063, the Vulcans were the first to make formal contact with the Human race, when a routine scouting mission noticed Zefram Cochrane's first Human warp-speed flight. The survey ship followed Cochrane's vessel back to his base in Bozeman, Montana, to meet the man who had achieved Earth's first faster-than-light travel, and subsequently established formal diplomatic relations with Earth. An alliance that lasted for centuries was formed between the two worlds, though the Vulcans initially refused to share advanced warp technology with the Humans. ( ) During those years, Vulcans were sometimes seen with distrust, anger or even violence by Humans. ( ) In the mid-21st century, the Andorians terraformed a class D planetoid which they named Weytahn, lying at a strategic position on the frontier between the Andorian and the Vulcan systems. Though the Andorians refused to allow the Vulcan High Command to inspect the colony in order to search for possible threats in the form of military installations, the Vulcans forcibly evacuated the planetoid. In 2097, a treaty was signed, in which the Vulcans officially claimed Weytahn, which they named Paan Mokar, and a surveillance satellite was placed in orbit of the planetoid, in order to enforce the accord. ( ) 22nd century Shortly before or in 2104, a Vulcan science vessel surveyed Berengaria VII, reporting its dragon-like reptiles to be over two hundred meters in length and breathing fire. ( ) By the mid-22nd century, Vulcan was a regional power in the Alpha Quadrant. The Vulcan High Command did have rocky relationships with several species and were still often engaged in conflicts with the neighboring Andorians, occasionally teetering on the brink of war. Nevertheless, among the tensest relationships remained those with the Arkonians, who had developed a substantial hatred towards Vulcans since their first contact a century earlier. Arkonian destroyer captains would be wary of any ship that had even a single Vulcan on it. ( ) Vulcan had a better relationship with allies such as the Mazar, Coridan, and the United Earth government. When the Mazarites considered their government entrenched in corruption, they asked the Vulcans for help. The Vulcans then assigned V'Lar as their ambassador to Mazar, who collected evidence against the corrupt officials. ( ) Certain Coridanite factions considered the government on their world corrupt, and only kept in place by Vulcan influence. ( ) And though many Humans believed the Vulcans were holding them back from their true potential as explorers, Vulcan considered Earth one if its most important allies "for over a hundred years." ( ) As for their old Andorian adversaries, however, the Vulcan High Command maintained a highly sophisticated surveillance station beneath the monastery of P'Jem, close to Andoria in order to guarantee the safe "observation" of their "aggressive" neighbor. Using the disguise of an ancient Vulcan monastery, the facility was able to spy on the Andorian population while staying unnoticed. In 2151, Shran, a commander in the Andorian Imperial Guard, unveiled the secret of P'Jem with the help of the crew of the Earth starship , thereby starting Human-Andorian relations and dealing a crippling blow to Vulcan prestige. After the Andorians destroyed the monastery later that year, however, the High Command began blaming Starfleet and Subcommander T'Pol, who was serving aboard Enterprise, for the loss of P'Jem, which later resulted not only in T'Pol's mother being expelled from the Vulcan Science Academy but also in an impairment of the Human-Vulcan relations. ( ) , the joint fleet operations between Humans and Vulcans were established as having very recently been resumed, following the incident at P'Jem (the cessation of these operations having been mentioned in "Shadows of P'Jem").}} Another hot spot in the cold war between Vulcan and Andoria was Coridan, a class M planet rich in dilithium ore. In the 2150s, Coridan suffered from a civil war, in which rebels, backed by the Andorian Imperial Guard, tried to overthrow the chancellor and her corrupt government, who was in turn supported by the Vulcan High Command, since Vulcan tried to maintain its trade partnership with Coridan, a lucrative source for dilithium. ( ) In 2152, a new open conflict arose on Weytahn, which was reclaimed by the Andorian Empire after being deserted for nearly sixty years. With the conflict about to escalate, Shran, who was leading the Andorian invasion forces on the planetoid, requested Captain Jonathan Archer of the Enterprise as a trustworthy mediator in order to negotiate a cease fire, which was finally accomplished and both sides resumed their negotiations. ( ) Vulcan reformation Subsequent to the crises of P'Jem and Paan Mokar, the High Command gained more control over civilian affairs. Under the leadership of Administrator V'Las, the High Command persecuted the Syrrannite sect, which claimed that Vulcan no longer followed the true teachings of Surak. Over the centuries following the death of Surak, his teachings had been subject to numerous interpretations and possible revisions. As a result, much of the original intent had been lost. In 2154, V'Las falsely claimed to have proof that the Andorians were developing a superweapon based on Xindi technology, and planned to invade Andoria in order to preempt this threat. For this purpose, the High Command secretly massed an attack fleet in the Regulan system, which was located inside Vulcan territory, near their border with the Andorians but outside of Andorian listening posts' range. As these plans were developing, agents loyal to V'Las bombed Earth's embassy and framed the Syrrannite T'Pau for the act. Jonathan Archer, investigating the Syrrannites, was briefly joined with the katra of Surak, and re-discovered the Kir'Shara, an artifact containing the original writings of Surak. During the course of the investigation, relations between Earth and Vulcan soured to the point that Vulcan ships opened fire on Enterprise to the horror of Minister Kuvak and the Syrrannites. After being driven from Vulcan orbit, Ambassador Soval and Commander Tucker warned the Andorians of the planned invasion, but Soval was terribly tortured when the Andorians didn't believe them. Eventually Soval was able to convince Shran of the impending assault and the Vulcan attack fleet lost the element of surprise (see Battle of Andoria). As the battle got underway, Archer and T'Pau brought the Kir'Shara into the High Command's headquarters, justifying the Syrranites' position and enabling Minister Kuvak to challenge V'Las' increasingly illogical behavior that was threatening war with Andor and Earth. In short order, the attack on Andoria was canceled, V'Las deposed, and the High Command disbanded. Kuvak and T'Pau formed a new transitional government, which promised to pursue peaceful policies and end its restrictions on Earth's technological development and expansion. T'Pau said it would take years to translate all of the writing, but the discovery of the Kir'Shara transformed Vulcan society, initiating a widespread return to the true teachings of Surak. ( ) By 2154, capital punishment was still existing on Vulcan for a small number of offenses, including treason. ( ) The Coalition of Planets and the Federation :See also: Federation history By November 2154, when Earth Starfleet agreed to assist Andorian and Tellarite diplomats to resolve a long-standing trade dispute between them, the Romulan Star Empire had become aware of the threat posed by a closer partnership between Vulcan, Earth, and their neighbors. The Star Empire's attempts to destabilize the region led to the Babel Crisis, during which a secret mission by the Romulans involved the use of two Romulan drone-ships. The Romulan ships were able to camouflage themselves as various other vessels and managed to spread distrust and hostility among local powers around Vulcan. The Romulans nearly succeeded with their plans but Captain Archer of the Enterprise was able to settle the dispute and allied the Vulcans, Andorians, Humans, and Tellarites to find and destroy the drone-ships, thereby altering the result of this Romulan mission to the exact opposite of what it was intended to achieve. ( ) With the averted escalation of the Babel Crisis, Vulcan, Earth and other worlds realized the value of their joint work and were growing close to founding a Coalition of Planets in 2155. ( ) The new coalition became welded together in 2156, when the conflict with the Romulan Star Empire escalated into the Earth-Romulan War. A humiliating defeat of the Romulans by an alliance of Vulcan, Earth, Andorian and Tellarite forces at the Battle of Cheron in 2160 effectively ended the war and led to the establishment of the Romulan Neutral Zone between the two power blocs. ( ; ) In 2161, one year after the Earth-Romulan War was decided, the old war allies, with the consent of the Vulcan Council, founded the United Federation of Planets in San Francisco, on Earth. ( ; ) suggests that a Representative T'Jan was the Vulcan at the forming of the Federation, though the clipping was not seen on screen and is not considered canon.|The novel Last Full Measure suggests that the Vulcan signers of the Federation Charter were Soval, T'Pau and Solkar.}} 23rd century ]] By the 23rd century, Vulcans were active members of the Federation. Personifying this was Ambassador Sarek, whose quick and logical responses during debates (such as with Tellarite Ambassador Gav) brought him recognition. He was even asked to come out of retirement to represent Vulcan at the Babel Conference in 2268. Over the following decades, he served as a personal adviser to the Federation President and was involved in the Khitomer Accords. ( ; ; ; ) In the alternate reality created by Nero's temporal incursion, the planet was destroyed in 2258, rendering the Vulcan race an "endangered species." Over the next year, Spock led the survivors in the colonization of New Vulcan. ( ; ) On a less than positive light, the Klingon ambassador called Vulcans the "intellectual puppets of the Federation," while arguing before the Federation Council in 2286. Seven years later, the daughter of the Klingon Chancellor, Azetbur, underlined this posture by calling the Federation a "Homo Sapiens-only club." ( ; ) 24th century was part of Starfleet Command in 2364]] By the 24th century, Vulcan remained one of the principal Federation members, and was deeply involved in all levels of that society. By 2369, the Vulcans had a saying, known to the Federation: "We're here to serve." ( ) A good example of this attitude is the Treaty of Alliance, which finally established a firm friendship between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and whose drafting and negotiation during the first half of the century is mainly attributed to Sarek of Vulcan and his son, Spock. ( ; ; ) Vulcans were also highly integrated in the command structure of Starfleet, namely with high-ranking officers like Rear Admirals Savar and Sitak. ( ; ) Some Starfleet vessels also had entirely, or almost entirely, Vulcan crews – for example, the , the , and the . ( ; ) carrying Romulan soldiers and claiming to be a "peace envoy"]] In 2368, an attempt at a Vulcan-Romulan reformation/reunification almost resulted in an invasion of Vulcan. It began when Ambassador Spock went to Romulus because the new Proconsul Neral convinced Spock he was ready to open formal relations with Vulcan. However, this form of "cowboy diplomacy" was in no way authorized by the Federation Council or Starfleet. It soon turned out to be a Romulan attempt to gain a foothold within the Federation by using the underground Romulan-Vulcan reunification movement as a cover. The incident culminated in Romulan forces entering Federation space aboard Vulcan transport vessels and moving towards Vulcan under a guise of peace. However, their cover was exposed and the Romulans destroyed their own forces, while they were heading back to Romulan space. ( ) Despite this setback, Spock stayed on Romulus, continuing to work for a rapprochement between Vulcans and Romulans over the following two decades. ( ; ) '' which was exploring the Gamma Quadrant in 2369]] After the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole in 2369, Vulcans were at the forefront of exploration in the Gamma Quadrant. Upon encountering the Wadi, a Vulcan ship was the first to make formal contact with a civilization from that region of the galaxy. ( ) Vulcan science ships later encountered the Rakhari and found the remains of the Hur'q civilization. ( ) Unfortunately, the Bajoran wormhole did not only bring scientific possibilities for the Federation and especially Vulcan, but also the Dominion threat. In late 2373, the Dominion War broke out and, during its early months, the Fifth Fleet had to fight Dominion forces near Vulcan. ( ) When Betazed fell in 2374 it meant a direct threat to Vulcan, a danger which became even more grave as the Dominion began building up its forces on the newly conquered world later that year. ( ) However, the danger to Vulcan never materialized as the Dominion War ended in late 2375 with the Federation Alliance emerging victorious. ( ) In 2387, Ambassador Spock's efforts to facilitate an eventual Romulan-Vulcan reunification came to an abrupt end, when Romulus was destroyed by a nearby supernova. Although Spock could not prevent the destruction of Romulus, he attempted to prevent the supernova from spreading further by creating a red matter singularity which, however, also pulled him and the pursuing Romulan mining ship Narada into an alternate reality. ( ) Summary of key dates *'2,700 BC': Vulcan civilization of this time is described as barbaric, war-like, aggressive and savage. *'3rd millennium BC': Vulcans begin to mentally train themselves to suppress their emotions. *'9th century BC': Master Haadok and others found the P'Jem monastery on another planet. *'4th century': Time of Awakening - As Vulcan is consumed by atomic wars, Surak proposes to embrace logic as a way to peace. Although his katra is saved, he later dies of radiation sickness on Mount Seleya. "Those who march beneath the Raptor's wings," leave the planet, becoming the ancestors of the Debrune and the Romulans. *'14th century': The religious holiday of Rumarie ceases to be observed on Vulcan. *'19th century': By this time Vulcan had rebuilt its civilization and returned to interstellar travel. *'Early 20th century': First contact occurs between Vulcans and Andorians. Relations between both species would remain rough over the following two centuries. *'1957': Vulcans make unofficial first contact with Humans when a Vulcan survey ship, which had been investigating the launch of Sputnik I, crash-lands on Earth. *'2050s': Vulcans make first contact with the newly warp-capable Arkonians. Their relationship quickly sours to a point where Arkonians would bear deep hatred towards Vulcans. During this time, the Vulcans are also aware of the Third World War on Earth, but choose not to interfere. *'2063': Official first contact between Vulcans and Humans takes place after the observes Humanity's first warp flight and then lands in Bozeman, Montana to meet its pilot. *'2097': After the Vulcan High Command forces its evacuation, a treaty is signed in which the Vulcans officially claim the Andorian planetoid Weytahn. It is renamed Paan Mokar, and a surveillance satellite is placed in orbit in order to enforce the accord. *'2151': Hidden beneath the monastery of P'Jem, a Vulcan listening post used to spy on their Andorian neighbors is uncovered by the crew of the Earth starship and members of the Andorian Imperial Guard. After a warning and its subsequent evacuation, the installation is destroyed by the Andorians later that year, thereby dealing a severe blow to Vulcan-Andorian relations, which are already tense due to both power's ongoing vying for political influence on the dilithium-rich planet Coridan. *'2152': Vulcan-Andorian relations heat up further as the Andorian Empire tries to reclaim Weytahn nearly sixty years after it has been deserted. With the help of Captain Jonathan Archer of the Enterprise, a cease-fire is established and both sides resume their negotiations. Related topics *Interstellar history **Federation history **Andorian history **Human history **Romulan history de:Vulkanische Geschichte fr:Histoire vulcaine it:Storia di Vulcano ja:ヴァルカンの歴史 History, Vulcan Category:History